This song was collected by Sabine Baring-Gould and associates from former smuggler and deputy harbourmaster William Houghton, in Charlestown. This involved a rare foray to the south eastern Cornish coast, on 20th August 1894. (Most of his song collecting was much closer to his home in Lewtrenchard and especially on Dartmoor; see Bristow, 2017). There are 3 other reasons I find it really interesting.
First, the unusual and fine (to my ear) mixolydian melody. I have tried to underscore its modal and ebbing & flowing character of this tune by the way in which the guitar accompaniment is organised.
Second, its lyrical focus and character as a monologuic cautionary love tale are features it shares with other very well known traditional folk songs: a Devon song also collected by Baring-Gould, "Twas on one april morning", not included in any of his publications, but revived through the singing of Cyril Tawney who sourced it from the manuscripts; and then Tony Rose (Tawney, 1973; Rose, 1976); and the Appalachian classic "Fair & Tender Ladies" collected by Cecil Sharp on his trip there with Maud Karpeles (Sharp and Karpeles, 1930; a pretty and skilful recent version is Simpson, Jutz & Dillon, 2023). The shared ground with the Devon song is recognised by their categorisation with the same Roud number, but the Appalachian variants are considered sufficiently different in this system and classified as Roud #451. Perhaps in the Appalachian case, its more of a family resemblance than a correspondence!
Third, for me this involves family connections. Because the grandmother of my cousin, Becky Rudall's husband, Tony Rudall, worked as Baring-Gould's housekeeper, there is general link (see Graebe, 2017, pp. 326 - 329). But given the circumstances around this particular song there is personal resonance too. For in the decades before the song was collected, in the mid nineteenth century, my paternal grandfather's grandfather, James Kendall, was vicar of one of the neighbouring parishes. His church (St Wyllows, Lanteglos-by-Fowey) and its population centre (Polruan) were 3 hours walk from Charlestown along this stretch of coast. I think its likely that, even if James didn't hear William Houghton singing, he will have encountered other similarly colourful characters amidst his own parishioners, singing comparable songs whilst working or at leisure. (It is said he used to ride a white donkey for his visiting, although we have no photographic evidence!) Incidentally family history research not undertaken for musical reasons is suggestive: James took the initiative to ensure a school was build, and archived records confirm the parish was "principally inhabited by Sea faring men and Agricultural Labourers". (Lambeth Palace Library, reference NS/7/1/9969). We know it was people with these occupations who tended to be carriers of some of the richest folk song material, both in Devon and Cornwall (Graebe, op cit, Appendix D).
The video picks up these themes, and try to give visual interest. The map at the onset is a contemporary Ordnance Survey one, found online; I have included some images, also sourced online, of historic Charlestown; the music and lyrics, from Baring-Gould's "fair copy", are from the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library digital archive; and the sources for other photos, are included in the list below (which also includies the only recording of this variant of Roud #1546 which I have managed to locate).
UPDATE 1/2/25: despite some initial doubts, it can be confirmed the photo IS William Houghton. We know this because Baring-Gould, who spent several hours with him, said so in his key work "English Minstrelsie".
Sources
Bristow, R. (2017) Plate 9 - Locations of Baring-Gould's singers, in Graebe, M. (2017) As I walked out: Sabine-Baring-Gould and the Search for the Folk songs of Devon & Cornwall, Signal Books, Oxford
Graebe, M. and S. (2012) Jack in his element: Sea songs from the Baring-Gould Manuscripts, available at https://sbgsongs.org/song-books/
Graebe, M. (2017) As I walked out: Sabine-Baring-Gould and the Search for the Folk songs of Devon & Cornwall, Signal Books, Oxford
Graebe, S. (2008) the complaining maid, on M. and S Graebe Dusty Diamonds, CD, not available on youtube.
Pickering, I. (1993) Pictures of a Parish: Scenes from a Century of Polruan and the Parish of Lanteglos, Lescrow Farm, Fowey.
Rose T. (1976) Twas on one april morning, on On Banks of Green Willow, available at • Tony Rose - On Banks of Green Willow ...
Sharp, C. and Karpeles, M. (1930) English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Volume Two, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Simpson, M et al (2023) Come all you fair and tender ladies on Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs Of Mary Sands And Jane Gentry, available at • Come All You Fair And Tender Ladies
Tawney, C. (1973) Twas on one april morning, on I will give my love an apple, available at • Cyril Tawney - I Will Give My Love (1...
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